Great Scottish Run

History

A Glasgow road-race began in 1979 as the Glasgow Marathon, and was run over the full marathon distance, over four loops around the centre of the city. This initial event set the challenging qualifying standard of 3 hours, which limited participation to 62 runners in the first year and 144 in the second. The third year dropped the qualifying standard and encouraged mass participation, with over 7,000 runners competing in the first Scottish People's Marathon. The race continued over this distance until 1988 when, faced with diminishing participation and little engagement from TV and sponsors, the event was run over a half-marathon course. The following year the distance changed again, this time to 15+1/2 mi, and for the first time the event was named the Great Scottish Run. This unusual distance proved unpopular with the elite athletes who the organisers had hoped to attract, and so two years later the race returned to the half marathon format.

After the running of the 2016 event, a number of runners raised concerns that their GPS watches reported the route was shorter than the prescribed distance. The race organisers, The Great Run Company, later confirmed that the course was 149 m too short; the inaccuracy came from both a setup error in one section and errors measuring the route when roads (which are closed to traffic during the race) were in normal operation. The 2016 men's event winner, Callum Hawkins, had broken the Scottish half marathon record, but the non-regulation distance invalidates this record.

Course

Half marathon course

The half marathon begins in George Square and immediately heads steeply up St. Vincent Street, going west through the city's commercial centre and Anderston. Runners then join a sliproad of the M8 motorway and cross the River Clyde on the Kingston Bridge, part of which is closed to vehicle traffic for the Sunday morning of the event. The next portion of the race takes place in the city's south side, heading through streets of the Kinning Park area, and then on paths through Bellahouston Park and heading back northeast toward Pacific Quay and the river. The course then crosses the Clyde again, this time on the Clyde Arc. From there runners head west along the river side, past the Scottish Exhibition and Conference Centre before doubling back around the Riverside Museum to head east along the Clyde, and back through Anderston, with runners entering Glasgow Green through the McLennan Arch for the finish.

The route was changed for the 2013 running – in previous races, runners stayed on the south side after Bellahouston Park, looping through Pollok Country Park and the streets of Pollokshaws and the Gorbals, and only crossing the Clyde again, on the Alexandra Bridge, just before the entrance to Glasgow Green.

10K course

The 10K course follows the same route as the half marathon for the first 2 km, but instead of crossing the Kingston Bridge, runners head west through Anderston and around the Riverside Museum (a section near the end of the half marathon course). The course then crosses the Clyde on the Clyde Arc bridge, loops very briefly through Pacific Quay, and then immediately back over the Clyde Arc. From there it follows the half marathon course along the river's north bank to Glasgow Green.

As with the half marathon, the 10K course was adjusted in 2013 to include Finnieston and the SECC area. In previous runnings, the 10K crossed the Clyde on the Kingston Bridge and followed an abbreviated path from Scotland Street, through Pollokshields before crossing the Clyde on Victoria Bridge and entering Glasgow Green.

Winners

Half marathon winners

Male

• 1991 – 1:04:23 - GBR Dave Lewis
• 1992 – 1:04:03 - ETH Turube Bedaso
• 1993 – 1:01:56 - GBR Mark Flint
• 1994 – 1:02:53 - KEN Joseph Kamau
• 1995 – 1:02:46 - KEN Samson Maritim
• 1996 – 1:02:27 - KEN Joseph Kibor
• 1997 – 1:01:46 - KEN Joseph Kibor
• 1998 – 1:03:00 - MEX Armando Quintanilla
• 1999 – 1:02:36 - KEN Joseph Kibor
• 2000 – 1:02:04 - POR António Pinto
• 2001 – 1:03:23 - RSA Abner Chipu
• 2002 – 1:03:15 - KEN Sammy Kipruto
• 2003 – 1:01:49 - KEN Peter Kiprotich
• 2004 – 1:01:48.2 - KEN Peter Kiprotich
• 2005 – 1:03:02.5 - KEN Jason Mbote
• 2006 – 1:01:36 - KEN Jason Mbote
• 2007 – 1:02:42 - KEN Isaac Wanjohi
• 2008 – 1:01:10 - KEN Emmanuel Mutai
• 2009 – 1:01:19 - KEN Jason Mbote
• 2010 – 1:01:53 - ETH Hailu Mekonnen
• 2011 – 1:01:26 - KEN Joseph Birech
• 2012 – 1:03:14 - KEN Joseph Birech
• 2013 – 1:01:09 - ETH Haile Gebrselassie
• 2014 – 1:01:25 - RSA Stephen Mokoka
• 2015 – 1:02:18 - UGA Moses Kipsiro
• 2016 – 1:00:24 - GBR Callum Hawkins
• 2017 – 1:02:44 - GBR Chris Thompson
• 2018 – 1:02:07 - GBR Chris Thompson
• 2019 – 1:01:29 - UGA Timothy Toroitich

Female

• 1991 – GBR Andrea Wallace
• 1992 – GBR Liz McColgan
• 1993 – UKR Tatiana Pozdniakova
• 1994 – RUS Alevtina Naumova
• 1995 – RUS Firiya Sultanova
• 1996 – RUS Firiya Sultanova
• 1997 – IRE Catherina McKiernan
• 1998 – RUS Firiya Sultanova
• 1999 – KEN Joyce Chepchumba
• 2000 – KEN Joyce Chepchumba
• 2001 – KEN Joyce Chepchumba
• 2002 – KEN Joyce Chepchumba
• 2003 – KEN Caroline Kwambai
• 2004 – KEN Beatrice Omwanza
• 2005 – JPN Hiroko Miyauchi
• 2006 – KEN Caroline Kilel
• 2007 – KEN Peninah Arusei
• 2008 – ETH Worknesh Tola
• 2009 – KEN Caroline Kilel
• 2010 – KEN Caroline Kilel
• 2011 – KEN Flomena Chepchirchir
• 2012 – ETH Bezunesh Bekele
• 2013 – GBR Susan Partridge
• 2014 – KEN Edna Kiplagat
• 2015 – KEN Edna Kiplagat
• 2016 – 1:07:22 – KEN Betsy Saina
• 2017 – 1:10:17 – KEN Flomena Cheyech Daniel
• 2018 – 1:09:15 – ETH Mare Dibaba
• 2019 – 1:07:38 – KEN Edith Chelimo

Wheelchair half marathon winners

Male

• 2005 – United Kingdom Kenny Herriot
• 2008 – Mark Telford
• 2011 – Ross Low
• 2012 – Phil Hogg
• 2014 – Simon Lawson

Female

• 2005 – United Kingdom Tanni Grey-Thompson
• 2008 – Margo Whiteford
• 2011 – Jane Egan
• 2012 – United Kingdom Meggan Dawson-Farrell

References

1. (5 January 2017). "Distance queries over Great Scottish Run could put the half-marathon record of Callum Hawkins in doubt". The National.